Saturday, 5 February 2011

Continuing the Romantic Suspense Tour with S R Claridge - welcome!!

Loving being part of this tour and the main reason is all the new romance authors and publishers i am finding out about! Please share more about Vanilla Heart Books and how you chose them as a publisher, what they have taught you etc. I love hearing about people's editing experiences!

OK, on with the interview...

1)Where do you write? Primarily upstairs in my office area… but when the weather is nice, I grab a notebook and pen and sit in the sun and write. It’s refreshing to get off the computer for a while and actually handwrite some pages.

2)What is the best & worst part about the writing process for you? The best part is when the creative juices are flowing and my fingers can’t keep up with the thoughts and ideas culminating in my head. The worst part is the hours and hours and hours spent promoting and marketing when I’d rather be writing.

3)When did you first consider yourself a writer? I have written all my life, but I didn’t feel like a true “writer” until I signed my first publishing contract.

4)What is the best & worst advice you’ve received about writing? The best advice I got was to remember that the literary field is subjective … meaning what one publisher or agent likes, another will dislike. This helped me put rejection in perspective and not take it personally. I can’t think of terrible advice I’ve received in the field of writing… I guess I’ve been blessed with supportive and encouraging people.

5)Which comes first? Plot or characters? Characters.

6)What is a typical day for you? Get the kids off to school. Do promotional work until around noon, then write until the kids get home from school. At night it’s time for blog postings and more promo work.

7)Where do you see your career in five years? I see the “Just Call Me Angel” mystery series in full-swing with maybe 5-6 books released. Perhaps another couple books like NO EASY WAY.

8)What do you like to do when you’re not writing? When I’m not writing it’s chore time… run errands, get caught up on laundry, clean the house, etc.

NO EASY WAY by S.R.Claridge BOOK BLURB

Swerving with the kind of deliberate precision only blind rage can empower, the black pick-up crushes Kansas Oil Tycoon, Lou Martin Miller, leaving Miller’s widow with an impossible choice: Cover the sin that lead to her husband’s death and conceal the identity of his killer, or risk the destruction of her family. She carefully weaves a net of protection around her family, but the day she dies it begins to unravel, leaving her grandson, Tom, and his soon-to-be-ex-wife, Kate, in grave danger.

Missing evidence, mistaken identity and manipulation leave private investigator, Stephen Braznovich, trapped between white lies and dark lusts, as he races to piece together a family secret before the next victim falls prey to deep-rooted revenge. The trouble is anyone who gets close to the truth winds up dead.

On the verge of an unwanted divorce, Tom must decide between a confession that could save his marriage or lie to save himself. Tension mounts as Tom and Kate’s lives hang in a twisted balance of crossed lines and misunderstood motives, all pointing to one simple truth. There is No Easy Way.

The book sounds great, SR and I LOVE your cover! Your life sounds so similar to my own and I couldn't agree more about the precious writing time taken up with promo. It really is a double-edged sword, if you don't promote, you don't sell but if you do, you can stop creating new stuff and people will stop looking for you. So, so difficult!